【History Archives】

If you're secretly looking for the final push to quit your job,History Archives this woman's success story might convince you.

Leanne Lauricella left the NYC grind to open Goats of Anarchy, a sanctuary for special needs goats -- and she has never been happier.

Mashable spoke with Lauricella about how her new career came to be.

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"I was living in NYC and had been working as an event planner for several years. In 2011, I was married and moved to New Jersey and began commuting. My job was very stressful and required me to work during the day, some evenings and from home every night and on the weekends. It was consuming my life and I found myself feeling very unhappy, stressed and unfulfilled. I often thought to myself, 'there has to be more to life than this,'" she told Mashable.

"In April of 2014, I decided to get my first pet baby goats. I didn't have any experience with farm animals, but I have always loved animals and was intrigued by goats in particular. After visiting a goat farm and seeing them, I just knew I had to have them.

"I was a new vegan and wanted to learn more about farm animals. I was so surprised to find that goats are very similar to dogs. They are so intelligent, funny and affectionate. They are each very different and have unique personalities. They are curious and extremely entertaining. The more time that I spent outside with my goats, the more I hated the thought of going to work," she said.

Two months later, Lauricella added three more goats to her family. "I began volunteering at a farm animal sanctuary and knew that I wanted to work with animals some day," she said. "I started an Instagram account to share the daily antics of my baby goats with family and friends."

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From day one of Lauricella's journey, she had a good feeling.

"The thought of giving up shopping and appointments at the nail salon was scary, but I didn't care. It didn't take me long to realize what was really important in life. On my very first day of unemployment, Instagram featured a photo of mine on their home page and I acquired 30k new followers in one day. I took this as a sign that I was on the right track!" she said.

Once Lauricella took in her first two rescue goats, Ansel and Petal, she was able to focus her passion on caring for sick or special needs baby goats.

"They were both very sick with e. coli rescued from a hoarding situation nearby. There were many sleepless nights, staying up with Ansel when the doctors feared he would not survive."

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An added bonus to running the goat sanctuary is being able to interact with her fans online.

"The wonderful people who follow my account are the most supportive, goat-loving people from all over the world. Many of them are emotionally invested in the lives of these goats and check out the Instagram account several times per day to find out what they're up to," she told Mashable.

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Lauricella was frank about how costly running Goats of Anarchy is.

"Most rescues and sanctuaries are either too large or not well funded enough to handle the physical and financial demands of special needs goats. Surgeries, medications, prosthetics and rehabilitation adds up!" she explained. "I am very fortunate to have so many dedicated followers who will step up to provide our babies with the medical care that they need."

So how did Lauricella financially adjust from her fancy New York career to running Goats of Anarchy?

Through donations, t-shirt sales, calendar sales and other fundraisers, Lauricella has been able to sustain the sanctuary. She also wrote a book about her goats, which is coming out in March.

She also explained how she was able to support herself with no salary at the beginning of this journey.

"I was fortunate to have a supportive husband and was able to go without income for a good while," she said. "I just had to get used to living without a few things."

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You may remember reading about Polly, one of Lauricella's goats who suffers from blindness, anxiety and other neurological issues, which are allayed when she wears her duck costume. Lauricella feels particularly connected to Polly, so much so that she wrote a book about the sweet baby goat and her duck costume that's slated for release sometime in 2017.

And books aren't Goats of Anarchy's only future plans -- it has a second location opening in January.

"I have been blown away by how fast we are growing and by the amount of support we receive from all over the world. I had no idea that the need for a special needs goat rescue was so great. I built a barn in June and it's already full!" she told Mashable. "I am so excited to announce that we are opening our second location in January of 2017! It's only 15 minutes away and we will be able to continue saving lives with this property."

We can't wait to see the cute new Instagram photos the second location inevitably brings.